It’s been three weeks since I’ve started my internship. Since then, I have worked on quite a few projects, ranging from showcase to prototype apps. The one in particular that I’m quite proud of is Lollapaloobox; a mash-up between the OpenTok & Hacklolla APIs. The web app allows users to enjoy the full concert experience from the comfort of their homes.

The big guys are duking it out again, and this time video chat is front and center. In the past few days Google unveiled Google+ with video “Hangouts”, Microsoft-owned Skype released the SkypeKit SDK and there is speculation that Facebook may announce next week it is bringing video chat to the social network.

There’s one thing missing in all of this. The web.

Google+ is surely a nice piece of work and Hangouts is great – and we love anything that makes video conversations more common – but these ‘new’ innovations are actually not new at all, they are alternatives to what we already have, just in a new location. They do nothing to help bring video chat to the web outside of the Hangout.

Several factors deeply impact the experience one has in a group or one-one video chat conversation. There exists a vast body of literature analyzing the various human factors impacting interpersonal communication, via a computer, such as affinity, commitment and attention. Human-Computer interaction experts, social scientists and computer researchers have studied the various dimensions which make the subjective experience of people participating in a conversation compelling.

We’re very excited to welcome Bibbil, the newest app leveraging OpenTok, to the TokBox family. Bibbil enables users to connect face-to-face with friends directly in Facebook; there aren’t any required downloads, installations or programs running outside of the browser. With two simple clicks within Facebook, users are video chatting with selected friends.

This past weekend Tokbox was at Game Hack Day in NYC and we must say it was more fun than we expected. The organizers had a great set of API presentations which included Foursquare, Twilio, OMGPOP, Aviary, and of course OpenTok. We also had the pleasure of learning more about some pretty cool libraries and hardware to hack with. They really went all out, even procuring Parot AR Drones and Microsoft Kinect devices to entice the participants and spark some creativity.

This tutorial will create a simple chat roulette app using node.js, socket.io and OpenTok. Socket.io allows us to pass data between clients in real-time using only javascript and eliminate the need for a database. OpenTok allows us to quickly publish and subscribe to webcam streams without having to worry about server requirements and bandwidth usage — all we have to do is implement a simple and free javascript API.

One thing is for sure: the developer and hacker community cares about sparking positive change. After spending a weekend as a hacker at the Hack for Change event (superbly hosted by Change.org), I saw over a dozen great ideas to hear about problems, find solutions and get people involved in those solutions. I wanted to highlight some of my favorites:

GoodNeighbor: Help get small tasks done like changing a lightbulb or taking out the trash for an elderly or disabled person in your neighborhood.

FindMeAPet.org: Save an animal from being put down by subscribing to data on incoming animals from local shelters.

IGotUGot: Backyard gardening exchange that helps you connect with the community and barter using whatever you grow at home (or have extra laying around).

PDB: Personal Daily Breifing the way Obama gets on his desk every morning, stay in touch with issues that you care about.

PicketLine.us: Voice your protest against a corporation and the practices you dislike. Profile the company and what people think about their choices.

Corrupt: report acts of corruption around you and hold those people accountable publicly (I worked on this one)

GovContrib: a bookmarklet that gives you a quick reference on how much certain companies have contributed to certain parties (uses Sunlight API)

Piece of Mind: An online and offline way for veterans to connect and voice stories through art. Kickstarter donation funded mosaic to be built.

Congratulations to GoodNeighbor (first prize), AnonyMouse (runner up), FindMeAPet (second runner up), Alerter (honorable mention) and all the teams that hacked though the wee hours on their projects. These ideas weren’t about building the next Fortune 500 company and retiring early, they were about making a difference in people’s lives. Seeing people staying up all night for that, truly is admirable.

We’re happy to announce that TokBox won the Demo Table Competition at the 7th Founder Showcase in San Francisco this week. Woo hoo! Our trusty TokBox crew members toiled away for hours (five to be exact) showing off OpenTok. They demo’ed everything from PokerView, to Meet Me Under the Mistletoe and eBuddy. See their smiley faces below.

Thanks to the Founder Showcase audience for helping us bring home the win!